Why do families who are poor, have pets

[hostleg]

They are expensive to feed, look after and to recover from illness and injuries.

Hear people who have a dog who swallowed something they shouldn’t have - £900 at vets. I’m sure these poor families don’t have £900.

We have two elderly dogs, who we got as puppies. Our disposable income now isn't as good as it was when we got them, exacerbated by COL (and kids!). On paper, they're an expense we can't really afford, but they're members of the family and so we sacrifice other things in order to cover their needs. Circumstances can change very quickly for people, but there are also definitely plenty of people who buy a cute puppy or kitten with zero research into how much they'll cost over the next 10-20 years.

Not poor now but I grew up very poor..

We had a dog because as a family we felt the financial cost was worth the privilege of having him and we went without things to make sure he was taken care of. I remember one particular surgery that cost £1500. That was a lot of money for us obviously. The vet let us do a repayment plan and we all worked together to pay it off. We sold some of our things, lived off beans and toast for weeks. Some of us who were in our teens did odd jobs for neighbours. The dog had his surgery. We brought him home and my mother took such good care of him afterwards, cooked him a plain dinner and changed his bandages every evening. He was 10 years old and lived another 3 years.

In contrast, our well off neighbours used to shoot their dogs if they got too old or sick to work (farming family) as they said it was cheaper than a vet!!

Some of these responses are so condescending. Low income does not mean irresponsible and it does not mean an animal is going to be neglected, just as high income doesn't guarantee the opposite. Clearly we adored and cherished him when we were willing to sacrifice so much for him.

What do you do when the family of 3 suddenly go on benefits (health, job loss, bereavement etc.) put 2 in care, let them starve?

I wonder if some posters are being deliverately obtuse or disingenuous.

The OP isn't suggesting that anyone but the wealthy should own pets. Or that people on a lower income should have pets.

When she asked why 'poor people' have pets, she doesn't mean people who have to cut back on luxuries to afford a vets bill or prioritise differently for a month or two or who need a repayment plan at the vets. Or who have to fit animal food into their existing weekly household food budget.

She means people who can't afford to feed them properly or look after them adequately. People for whom there are no 'luxuries' to cut back on. If you can afford your pets through 'making a few sacrifices', I don't think she's talking about you.

Nowhere in the OP's very short post does it say that, she literally says why do poor families have pets.

By every metric you could measure, my family were poor and yet we cut out cloth to pay for our pet. She assumes a poor family she knows couldn't pay £900 for the vet but she doesn't know that for sure, doesn't she?

If she said why do people get animals if they aren't willing to budget for them or sacrifice to meet their needs then I would agree with her (and there are many people with money who are too selfish to meet their pets needs) but she didn't, she just generalised about lower income families.

So what would you do if your pet became unwell?

I think people also misjudge the cost as well.

we knew getting our lab would be expensive. We had a general idea of costs having always had labradors. What we didn’t expect was that our new puppy would be £92 a month just for good pet insurance.

wasn’t a issue for us but we had assumed it would be around the £30-40 mark as our previous lab was about that.

we have very good insurance who work directly with my vet, but if we have to see the emergency vet it’s £330 just for a consultation before any treatment. It’s the only emergency vet locally and even the local pdsa vets have the contract with them. this wasn’t the case when we first got our boy. It’s a recent thing that they became the only emergency vets and of course they don’t work with insurance companies.

Do you think that in order to own a pet, everyone should have thousands stashed aside just in case?

Can I ask this, let's imagine you have insurance but it won't cover the full surgery, and there is an additional £4,000 to pay. Are you saying that if people couldn't pay that, they shouldn't own a pet?

What!?

Kitchen scraps?
They ate tinned food -as far back as I can remember , 50 years dogs/ cats ate tinned food

😂

You got all that from a simple question to someone who doesn’t have pet insurance, my only comment on this thread so far?! Relax a little and let the other poster answer if she wishes to.

Poor decision making skills.

Living for the moment rather than planning for the future. A lack of responsibility - just doing what they want rather than thinking through the impact and consequences.

Food banks do not turn people away because they have a pet, nor do they see food given to people with pets as a wasted resource! Food banks often try to change the root causes of food poverty. Loneliness and poor mental health can play a role in this and a pet can give someone a great support and routine, which can at times help them get back on their feet. Food banks and benefits aren't about people living on gruel until they can suddenly pay their way.

I'm poor and dying but got my pets 14 years ago when I was in a great job and great health.

Couple of things:

Poor choices
Change in circumstances

⚘

I thought the OP was asking more why people who are poor when they get the pet, get pets. People cant help if things change drastically years further down the line.

Lots of good reasons to have a pet, lots of ways difficulty can strike once you have a pet.

BUT also:

Lots of people who are poor, or struggling in different ways, are in difficulty because they are poor decision makers or find it hard to make strategic decisions.

Have another baby? Awwww…. Get a puppy? SO cute…. Move boyfriend in…. YeahWhyNot… Take out a loan… Give up your job… buy a handbag…. YOLO.

I think a lot of smug people on Mumsnet don't grasp how quickly and brutally life circumstances can change - you develop a disability, you get cancer, your OH of twenty years walks out, you're made redundant at age 50 with limited prospects, your baby turns out to have significant SN. Obviously you shouldn't acquire new pets if you can't manage, but if you already have a much loved well settled pet?

Sorry. I didn't realise

Poorer people have always had pets, most likely always will.

The same reason people have kids.

Pet insurance

She is very old, so no heroics . The sort of stuff that insurance would have covered would be the sort of stuff that I would not put her through anyway,
A course of medication... fine. Loads of tests, no. Surgery to repair a broken leg... no.

I don’t know OP. Maybe it’s so they can eat them if times get really hard? Or maybe poor people are only poor because they spend all their money on vapes and special brew and scratch cards? It’s that the response you were looking for?

Thanks for your reply. That sounds like a sensible approach.